Multifunction Catheter with Removable Core for Apheresis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional intravenous infusion catheter designs and apheresis needles restrict arm mobility and comfort, and are prone to infections, particularly from 'superbugs' like MRSA and VRE, which can lead to life-threatening complications and require prolonged antibiotic treatments, while central lines are difficult to clear and often lead to reinfection.
Innovation Solution
A substantially tubular and flexible catheter with apertures and a removable rigid core for vein cannulization, allowing enhanced mobility and reducing infiltration risks, while also providing multiple treatment functions and minimizing the need for central line placement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional intravenous infusion catheter designs are used, then the catheter structure is simple, but blood withdrawal rates are inadequate for apheresis treatments
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter is divided into multiple functional sections: a flexible catheter body with multiple apertures for blood withdrawal, and a separate rigid core for vein cannulization. This segmentation allows the catheter to achieve high blood withdrawal rates through multiple apertures while maintaining structural simplicity through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The rigid core is nested within the flexible catheter, with the core serving as an internal support structure during insertion and then being removed. This nesting approach allows the catheter to achieve both structural simplicity and high productivity by combining two functional elements in a compact configuration.
2Reliability
If apheresis needles are used to reduce infiltration risk, then safety is improved, but arm mobility and patient comfort are restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter employs a flexible catheter body that can bend and move with patient arm movements, unlike rigid apheresis needles. This flexibility maintains patient comfort and arm mobility while the multiple apertures and rigid core provide structural support to reduce infiltration risk during the procedure.
3Loss of time
If central lines are placed to avoid repeated venipunctures, then treatment continuity is improved, but infection risk from superbugs increases
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter is designed as a multifunctional device that can perform both vein cannulization (via the rigid core) and blood withdrawal for apheresis treatments (via multiple apertures). This multi-functionality eliminates the need for repeated venipunctures or central line placement, allowing patients to receive multiple treatments through a single insertion while reducing infection risk.
4Productivity
If multiple apertures are added to the catheter for adequate blood flow, then blood withdrawal capability is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter is segmented into a flexible catheter body containing multiple apertures and a separate rigid core. This segmentation allows the multiple apertures to be manufactured using standard catheter fabrication techniques, while the rigid core can be separately manufactured and then inserted, simplifying the overall manufacturing process despite the presence of multiple apertures.
Data Source
AI summary
Multifunction needle/catheter devices and applications. In one instance, the device includes a substantially tubular and flexible catheter, where the catheter has an opening at an end of a distal section of the catheter and one or more apertures longitudinally spaced away from the end of the distal section, and a removable substantially rigid core capable of facilitating vein cannulization, the removable substantially rigid core being disposed within the catheter.